Save Oasis Swindon urges supporters to attend crucial planning meeting

People unhappy with the planned refurbishment of the Oasis Leisure Centre are being rallied to voice their objections at a forthcoming planning meeting.

The Save Oasis Swindon campaign opposes plans by SevenCapital which would involve a reopened centre without a sports hall plus the creation of more than 700 new homes at the site.
Supporters are now being urged to voice objections at the Swindon Borough Council Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday 8 July.
In a recent letter to the council's planning department, campaign chair Neil Robinson quoted a council paper from 19 June saying SevenCapital estimated that £11.9m would be needed to refurbish the existing sports hall or £5.9m to £11.4m to demolish and rebuild the Sports Hall, and £20m to refurbish the existing swimming pool and link building.
Mr Robinson said it had taken two applications under ACV (Asset of Community Value) regulations to  obtain the figures.
Mr Robinson wrote: "Save Oasis Swindon put together a fully comprehensive report providing demand for a reopened Hall at the Oasis. Many sporting clubs are crying out for it to return. The demand is there.
"For the sake of a minimum of £5.9m, you want to put the health, wellbeing and enjoyment of a town of 240,000 people on the back burner and allow a Hall at the Oasis to be lost forever?
"The Oasis is a famous Leisure centre and culturally important to our town. Even more so with the reunion concerts taking place later next month. The spotlight will be on Swindon for the wrong reasons.
"This application to permanently erase the Oasis Hall should be rejected given the overwhelming amount of public objections, objections from sporting body Sport England, both parish Councils and other organisations."
Mr Robinson called for a fresh evaluation of the site and proposals, including design concepts to show what a restored or rebuilt Oasis would look like, and the exploration of possibilities for funding.
He added: "Save Oasis proposed the formation of a Trust. Given the ACV is likely to be rejected, we would like to see SBC and Seven Capital take onboard the serious concerns of our town and ensure that half of our treasured Oasis is not lost forever.
"This planning application must be rejected, or further reports submitted which show design concepts and studies for how a Hall could be restored or rebuilt and funded.
"Simply approving to demolish and not replace is displacing the community forever of a well loved, hugely famous Leisure asset.
"We haven't seen any evidence in this application of studies for the Hall and it should be rejected on this basis alone.
"Give the community what they want and act in the interests of the community. We need to see the Oasis back in full."
The Tuesday 8 July planning meeting will begin at 6pm.?